


i was the stars, he was the planets, and you were the everlasting space

by scionofthelongproject



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Multi, Polyamory, Project Mercury, hey i actually wrote something without sin this time, they're all named something important or related to them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-05-19 03:37:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5952274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scionofthelongproject/pseuds/scionofthelongproject
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>the stars are infinite, and so was our love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i was the stars, he was the planets, and you were the everlasting space

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PlayerProphet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlayerProphet/gifts).



> Hey, Dawn! I was your Metal Gear Secret Santa this year, and things got a little...busy. HOWEVER! I did finish it, and now it's here and take these Otacon-shaped cookies as my apologies for its lateness. C:

It all started on her seventeenth birthday. 

 

The punching bag was a dark blue, navy leather filled with sand and hanging in their garage by a double-linked chain. The bag had a pocket at the bottom, in a part no one would regularly aim for. She searched the pocket, and pulled out gel handwraps, her favorite brand at that, too.

She wrapped her hands carefully, as if it were a precious ritual, a prayer to pagan gods of old. Readying her stance, she threw a solid punch in the middle region of the bag. It swung heavily and she swung her leg forward, colliding with the side. The bag was slowly broken in within the next hour before the door swung open.

 

“Felicity!” 

 

She swung around, putting her hand out to stop the bag. Her father stood in the doorway, with a slender figure shaded in red. Her father took the cigar- _ Little Rebel, grape flavored _ -out of his mouth, and motioned towards the slightly pulled down garage door. “Mind getting that?” 

 

She strided over, and as she finished securing the lock, the figure in red pulled down their hood. 

The first thing Felicity noticed was the beauty mark that accented the left side of her chin. Her glasses were dark, a whiskey brown, and she had a smile on her face like she just disappeared before Alice’s eyes in Wonderland. 

 

“This is Adara. She came over from Britain to help work on the NASA project. She’ll be living with us for the next few months until Project Mercury is over.”

 

Adara held out her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you. I was excited to hear that I was meeting the one going up.” The British accent in her voice complimented her appearance, and Felicity felt a slight sizzle of electricity through her own body.

 

Felicity shook her hand and covered it with the other, smiling. “It’s nice to meet another person working on the team.”

* * *

They sat in the library around one of the numerous circular tables, quietly doing their homework when Felicity’s lone friend finally brought it up.

 

“Why do you wear that horrid coat all the time, Adara?”

 

“Mendeley!” Felicity hissed, swatting at her friend’s arm. He raised his shoulder in apology, but Adara waved him off.

 

“It’s okay. I know it’s not usual.” She readjusted her glasses underneath the hood, then clasped her hands together. “I’m an albino. I burn up easily in the sun.” Mendeley still looked guilty, but she patted his hand and smiled. “I’m just glad to have acquaintances that stay in the library with me during lunch.” 

 

Felicity gave her a half-smile. “I’m glad to have an  _ acquaintance _ who’s memorized the periodic table. Chrostek’s classes are killing me.” She poked her pencil into the side of Mendeley’s arm. “So are Brohm’s.”

 

Mendeley rolled his eyes and pulled out the vocabulary of the week. “Great. Now you have more time for punching things, and not hanging out with me.” He crossed his arms and faux pouted.

 

Ignoring him, Felicity copied the paper word for word. After she was done, she went over exactly what she had written. “Who even uses the word ‘incessantly’ anymore?”

 

Mendeley cleared his throat dramatically and held his hand out. “‘Felicity incessantly punched the punching bag until it was a heap of sand and ruined.’” 

 

“Har-dee-fucking-har,” She whispered with a hint of venom, turning back to the chemistry charts.

 

Adara watched the interaction as if it were unique and new. Somehow, when Felicity did something, even if Adara had experienced it, seen it, before, it still felt new. She felt a small rush of endorphins flow through her, and it made her all the more curious. “Mendeley, right? That’s Russian, isn’t it?”

 

Mendeley quickly glanced at Felicity, who seemed at a loss for words for once. He sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I moved here before the war started.” He brushed the hair away from his glasses. “I spent two years with Felicity working on my American accent, so if you could-”

 

Adara held out her hand, pinky out. “This is how you make a promise, yes?”

* * *

 

They sat in Felicity’s treehouse, silence engulfing them both. 

 

“You really tried to get her pulled off the mission?” Mendeley asked for what seemed to be the hundredth time, but was only the first. 

 

Adara tried to piece together thoughts before talking, drawing her hood around her. “Yes. She’s been radiated once before, and to be sent in again would only be of greater danger to her. My moderator also mentioned that they’re putting a window into the shuttle.” Mendeley tilted his head in confusion, and she nodded. “They’re keeping the windowless re-entry calculations for the windowed re-entry procedure. She’s bound to go off course.”

 

“And they’re just going to keep it in there?” Mandeley said incredulously. 

 

“There’s something dubious about this program, my friend.” She rested her chin on her knees with her arms around her legs. “I don’t like it one bit.”

 

Mendeley hummed his agreement, getting up and sitting next to Adara. After another few minutes of silence, more comfortable than the last bout, he asked her “Do you love her?”

 

Startled by the abruptness, she turned to look at him. He repeated the question with a coy smile at his lips, as if he could say word for word how she exactly felt. Adara strung words together in her head, casting them to space when they didn’t make sense. Finally, she found her constellation of letters. “She feels like the galaxy. She’s vast, she’s amazing, she makes everything feel new. She makes me  _ feel _ , Mendeley, and it feels like such a strange love to have. Every book I’ve read that has romance doesn’t even begin to cover or color what I feel.”

 

He laughed quietly. “I know what you mean, Adara.” He settled back and sighed. “She took me in here my first day of school. She pointed out every syllable I had done wrong, and it made me feel like I’d fucked up at one point.” He ran his hand through his hair and readjusted his glasses. “But then she went on and on about each syllable I did right, every word and idiom I used correctly, and I could see the light, the joy, in her eyes. She wasn’t just proud of her teachings, she was proud of  _ me _ .” He turned his head and sincerely smiled at her. “Your ‘strange love’ isn’t so strange, Adara. Unique, but not strange.”

* * *

 

He knocked on her door, and she stood up in rage, nearly foaming at the mouth. “She’s still going in the shuttle. Why is Felicity still going in the shuttle?” Adara spat out.

 

He sighed, looked down the hall as if he were being watched. “Adara, I need to tell you something.” He stepped in and closed the door. “The Department of Defense is well aware of the complications you brought up at the last few team meetings.” He held up his hand as soon as she opened her mouth. “I...I haven’t been on good terms with the CIA as of late.This mission is essentially a hostage situation. I know it, the moderators know it...even Felicity knows it.” He fiddled with his wedding band, looking as if he had committed the greatest sin. “Our family is heir to a vast fortune that was used in the wars, and the government is wanting it used on nuclear devices in case the USSR strike.”

 

“Are they really so sure that the USSR are going to attack?” Adara asked quietly.

 

“Honestly? They don’t care.” 

 

“And what about Felicity? Why doesn’t she stop and withdraw from the project?” 

 

He grabbed the doorknob as he was about to open it, but paused for one last word. “If anything goes wrong, you can blame me. You can hate me. But don’t hate her, don’t hate her passion and loyalty to an entity that is going to chew her up and spit her out. She does this with joy, as she does with all things.”

 

He left her in endless silence.

* * *

 

“Here, hold it like...this!” Adara guided Felicity’s hands to the telescope and angled it with her hands. “You should be able to see Crux. It’s the brightest constellation there is, and even though it’s small, it’s still one of the most easily recognizable.”

 

“You know a lot about stars, Strangelove,” Mendeley teased, leaning against the tree. 

 

She stretched her coatless arms out and grinned. “I love seeing the stars. I can be free underneath them. I don’t have to wear a stupid coat or wear these stupid glasses.” She pulled off the glasses and tossed them onto her folded-up coat by the tree. “I’m not being held down by the light of the sun, but being lifted by the light of our moon.” 

 

The moment of self-fulfillment ended when Mendeley piped up with, “Hey, real quick, what’s the moon’s name? Is it just ‘Moon’?”

 

“Bloody Ruskie,” Adara hissed as she turned on him. “I was having a moment.”

 

He started to laugh, leaning against the tree as Adara grabbed his sleeve to properly sock him in the arm. By now, it was a customary thing between the two: Mendeley would ruin something or say something lowbrow and Adara would respond in kind by socking him. It was, at first, surprising to whoever knew of Adara’s coldness, but Felicity had awoken something inside of her; a fire inside that burned to experience more than just aloofness.

 

“I see it.” 

 

They stopped what they’re doing and turned to look Felicity, who gazed through the telescope in awe. She clutched at the eyeglass as if it were about to float away.

 

“I see Crux.”

 

They both ran over to her and stood by her side. Adara asked, “What do you think?”

 

Felicity lowered the telescope and smiled brightly. “It’ll be fun to look for in space.” 

 

Adara and Mendeley look at each other, mirroring each other’s grim looks before Adara turned back to say something. “Felicity...you know that there are things wrong with this mission, right? There’s a high chance that you’ll be-”

 

“I know.” Felicity folded the eyepiece and sat down in the grass. “I know my father told you what is happening, Adara. I know that you two have been talking about the possibilities.” She grabbed each of their hands and tugged them down. Mendeley sat with his left leg against Felicity’s back, while Adara laid down in the grass on her chest. Once everyone was settled, Felicity sighed slowly and smiled. “I’m not afraid. Whether or not the shuttle goes off course, I will still have been the first person in space. I’ll be able to see the stars that much closer, and I’ll be able to see the Earth as it is.” She laid against Mendeley’s legs, shuffling until comfortable. “I’m okay with what might happen. I know I’ve had the joy of being with you…” Adara felt a hand tugging her over until she was laying her head in Felicity’s lap. “...and the joy of existing with you.”

 

In that moment, Adara couldn’t help but to embrace her strange love.

* * *

 

 

The wreckage was forseen, but it didn’t stop anyone from being surprised. 

 

Strangelove had warned Mendeley that they would need transportation - “ _ Ahh, yes, our RescueMobile,” he had commented dryly  _ \- and as soon as the readings came in that the shuttle had crashed into the sea, she had grabbed the coordinates and ran, vengeful moderators be damned, but not before screaming for someone to call an ambulance. She clutched the coordinate readouts to her chest as Mendeley sped past signs in his host family’s van. 

 

As pale as he was, Mendeley tried his best to reassure her. “Strangelove, I’m sure she’s okay. It’s only twenty miles until we get there. Wasn’t the shuttle made to float?”

 

“It was made for a parachute without the window.” She uncrumpled the readout and looked at the findings. “The parachute didn’t go off, Mendeley, and the walls of the shuttle lost their protective coating. She’s either been cooked alive or has several broken bones.” Strangelove crumpled the paper again and leaned back in her seat, pulling her coat around her even tighter.

 

Mendeley pressed his lips together and stared grimly at the road. “I have never felt a sorrow greater than this.” 

 

Twenty minutes passed by, and they finally got to the coast. Strangelove could see where the shuttle is, pieces floating desolately in the ocean, but no body to be found. “We have to get down there,” She said hurriedly, rushing down the banks of sand with her hood drawn to her. 

 

Mendeley had a harder time going down the banks, failing to keep up with her, so he shouted, “Keep your calm, Ada-”

 

“Don’t tell me to keep my bloody calm!” She shouted over her shoulder. As soon as she got to the edge of the ocean, she pulled out her eyeglass and looked for anything. After a few minutes of searching through the blue of the eyepiece, she spotted the black-and-orange uniform of Project Mercury. “I see her!” She screamed with manic delight, pointing to where Felicity was.

 

Swiftly peeling off his black turtleneck and handing it to Strangelove, Mendeley dove into the water, powering through the waves with great ease. Strangelove tried her best to follow where he was, but after a minute, she lost him. Lowering the telescope, she clutched it tightly to her chest, trying to stop the flood of emotions that was fighting to break out of her heart. The idea of her love drowning in the sea was suffocating her, and she finally felt more alone than she ever thought she had.

 

Movement caught her eye, and she saw that Mendeley had dragged Felicity on the debris she had been floating on through the water. When he reached shore, he stumbled up and pulled the part of the shuttle onto the sand. “You were right about the burns. They’re all over her chest and back. She’s barely breathing, Adara. We need to get her aid.” 

 

“We need something to cover her is what we need.” Strangelove looked around, but the part of the beach they were on was without a single person besides them. She looked up at the sun, beating down on all of them. “The heat’s going to kill her if we don’t do something.” She looked at Felicity, then an idea struck her.

 

In a second, Adara knew she would’ve never been able to do this without knowing Felicity or Mendeley. She knew that it would’ve been out of the question, but for them, for Felicity, anything was possible to do.

 

As Strangelove undid her coat, Mendeley put everything together. “Adara, you’re going to fry out here.” 

 

“Rather me than her.”

 

“Ad-”

 

“Just let me do this!” She finally got the last button undone and wretched the coat, laying it down on its back on the beach. “It’s big enough to cover her. Lay her down on it.” 

 

Mendeley gently lifted Felicity and laid her upon the coat. Strangelove knelt and wrapped the front around her, taking care to cover as much as she could while doing an assessment. Felicity’s breathing was shallow, but better little breathing than no breathing. Strangelove caressed her face, smoothing hair away from her face. Mendeley wrapped his arm around Adara’s shoulder and covered her head with his turtleneck. She turned her to give him an inquisitive look.

 

He faintly smiled. “I’d rather neither of you get burned to death today.” With a small kiss to her temple, he pulled her tighter against his side and held onto Felicity’s hand with need. 

 

After a few minutes of waiting in silence, they heard the wails of a siren, and Strangelove asked, “Do you think she loves us?”

 

Mendeley squeezed Felicity’s hand, and with tears in his eyes and a tremble in his voice, he answered with, “I know she loves us.”

* * *

 

With her hands wrapped in gauze, Strangelove tended to the flowers next to Felicity. “Your father knows how to send the best arrangements, doesn’t he? What are they?”

 

“Stars-of-Bethlehem.” Felicity smiled at Strangelove, sitting up slightly. 

 

It had been three weeks since the shuttle had crashed, and a lot of higher-up moderators and administrators had been thrown through interrogation by the Department of Defense and NASA for the reason of why Felicity has been sent into space. Many accounts of bribes and threats were being recorded, and several people had already been arrested on counts of conspiracy.

 

“They’re beautiful,” Strangelove mused, finally sitting on the edge of the bed. She ran her hand through Felicity’s hair. “Not as beautiful as you, though.” 

 

“Hush,” Felicity hummed. “Is Mendeley coming?” 

 

“Yes, he’s just down in the cafeteria. I don’t think he expected you to wake while he was getting food.”

 

As if on cue, Mendeley walked in with a plate and bowl and nearly dropped them. “Felicity!” He set the food down and rushed over, kissing her forehead and cheeks. “Thank God you’re awake! Strangelove has been boring me with space facts again.”

 

“‘Strangelove has been boring me with space facts again.’” She mimicked with a whiny voice. “You were begging for something to distract you, so shove off.” 

 

“Both of you, please.” Felicity sighed with a smile. “I saw it.”

 

“Saw what?” Mendeley questioned.

“Crux. I saw Crux, and the Big Dipper and Gemini and Libra and oh, so much wonder.” Felicity closed her eyes as if reexperiencing it in her head. “But the best part was seeing Earth from above. The way it looks so...peaceful, so together. In that moment, I forgot there was a space race, I forgot all the war and death, and just gazed upon our planet.” She opened her eyes and looked at both Mendeley and Strangelove. “I want to try to fix this world. I want to make it one.”

 

Strangelove looked at Mendeley, and Mendeley looked at Strangelove. With a nod, they’re on the same page.

 

“When do we start?”


End file.
